Scientifically Speaking
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www.IELTS4U.blogfa.com Scientifically Speaking A Dictionary of Quotations www.IELTS4U.blogfa.com About the Compilers Carl C Gaither was born on 3 June 1944 in San Antonio, Texas. He has conducted research work for the Texas Department of Corrections, the Louisiana Department of Corrections, and taught mathematics, probability, and statistics at McNeese State University and Troy State University at Dothan. Additionally he worked for ten years as an Operations Research Analyst. He received his undergraduate degree (Psychology) from the University of Hawaii and has graduate degrees from McNeese State University (Psychology), North East Louisiana University (Criminal Justice), and the University of Southwestern Louisiana (Mathematical Statistics). Alma E Cavazos-Gaither was born on 6 January 1955 in San Juan, Texas. San Juan has the name of a big city but in Texas it’s just a small border town. She has previously worked in quality control, material control, and as a bilingual data collector. In addition to compiling the quotations for this science quotation book series she is also an SK1 in the United States Navy Reserve. She received her associate degree (Telecommunications) from Central Texas College and presently is working toward a BA degree with a major in Spanish and a minor in Art. Together they selected and arranged quotations for the books Statistically Speaking: A Dictionary of Quotations (Institute of Physics Publishing, 1996), Physically Speaking: A Dictionary of Quotations on Physics and Astronomy (Institute of Physics Publishing, 1997), Mathematically Speaking: A Dictionary of Quotations www.IELTS4U.blogfa.com(Institute of Physics Publishing, 1998), Practically Speaking: A Dictionary of Quotations on Engineering, Technology and Architecture (Institute of Physics Publishing, 1999) and Medically Speaking: A Dictionary of Quotations on Dentistry, Medicine and Nursing (Institute of Physics Publishing, 1999). About the Illustrator Andrew Slocombe was born in Bristol in 1955. He spent four years of his life at Art College where he attained his Honours Degree (Graphic Design). Since then he has tried to see the funny side to everything and considers that seeing the funny side to science has tested him to the full! He would like to thank Carl and Alma for the challenge! Scientifically Speaking A Dictionary of Quotations Selected and Arranged by Carl C Gaither and Alma E Cavazos-Gaither www.IELTS4U.blogfa.comIllustrated by Andrew Slocombe Institute of Physics Publishing Bristol and Philadelphia c 2000 IOP Publishing Ltd All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Multiple copying is permitted in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency under the terms of its agreement with the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals. IOP Publishing Ltd has attempted to trace the copyright holders of all the quotations reproduced in this publication and apologizes to copyright holders if permission to publish in this form has not been obtained. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 0 7503 0636 X Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data are available www.IELTS4U.blogfa.com Production Editor: Simon Laurenson Production Control: Sarah Plenty Commissioning Editor: Jim Revill Cover Design: Victoria Le Billon Marketing Executive: Colin Fenton Published by Institute of Physics Publishing, wholly owned by The Institute of Physics, London Institute of Physics Publishing, Dirac House, Temple Back, Bristol BS1 6BE, UK US Office: Institute of Physics Publishing, Suite 1035, The Public Ledger Building, 150 South Independence Mall West, Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA Typeset in TEX using the IOP Bookmaker Macros Printed in Great Britain by J W Arrowsmith Ltd, Bristol We respectfully dedicate this book to Brenda and Stan Burt and family Mike and Vickie Gould and family In memeory of Clifford C Gaither (March 1, 1917–February 8, 2000) Husband, Father, and Friend You will be missed www.IELTS4U.blogfa.com I vow to strive to apply my professional skills only to projects which, after conscientious examination, I believe to contribute to the goal of coexistence of all human beings in peace, human dignity and self- fulfillment. I believe that this goal requires the provision of an adequate supply of the necessities of life (good food, air, water, clothing and housing, access to natural and man-made beauty), education, and opportunities to enable each person to work out for himself his life objectives and to develop creativeness and skill in the use of hands as well as head. I vow to struggle through my work to minimise danger; noise; strain or invasion of privacy of the individual; pollution of earth, air or water; destruction of natural beauty, mineral resources and wildlife. Thring, Meredith New Scientist Scientist’s Oath January 7, 1971 www.IELTS4U.blogfa.com CONTENTS PREFACE xi ABSTRACTION 1 ADMINISTRATION OF SCIENCE 4 AESTHETICS 5 AGE OF SCIENCE 7 ANALOGY 9 ANSWER 11 ANTI-SCIENCE 12 www.IELTS4U.blogfa.comAPPLIED SCIENCE 14 AXIOMS 17 BEAUTY 18 BOOKS 20 CHAOS 22 COMMON SENSE 23 COMMUNICATION IN SCIENCE 26 CONCEPTS 30 DATA 31 DEFINITION 32 DISCOVERY 34 DOGMA 43 ERROR 45 ETHICS 47 EXPERIENCE 49 EXPERIMENT 52 FACTS 61 vii viii SCIENTIFICALLY SPEAKING FAILURE 67 FORMULA 68 FUNDING 70 GOD 71 HISTORY OF SCIENCE 74 HYPOTHESIS 80 IMAGINATION 85 INDUCTION 89 INFORMATION 90 INSTRUMENTS 92 INTUITION 94 INVENTION 95 IRRATIONAL 96 KNOWLEDGE 97 LANGUAGE 108 LAWS 110 LITERATURE 113 www.IELTS4U.blogfa.comLOGIC 116 MAGIC 118 MAN OF SCIENCE 121 MEASUREMENT 127 METAPHOR 130 METHOD 131 MYTH 136 OBSERVATION 138 OCCAM’S RAZOR 141 PARADIGM 143 PARADOX 144 PRAYER 145 PREDICTION 146 PROBABLE ERROR 148 PROBLEMS 149 PROGRESS OF SCIENCE 152 PROOF 159 CONTENTS ix PROPOSITIONS 162 PUBLICATIONS 163 QUESTIONS 165 REALITY 168 REASON 170 RELATIONS 172 RESEARCH 174 RULES 180 SAVANT 181 SCIENCE 182 SCIENCE AND ART 258 SCIENCE AND FREEDOM 263 SCIENCE AND GOD 264 SCIENCE AND MORALS 266 SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY 269 SCIENCE AND POETRY 273 SCIENCE AND POLITICS 275 www.IELTS4U.blogfa.comSCIENCE AND RELIGION 277 SCIENCE AND WOMEN 291 SCIENTIFIC 294 SCIENTIFIC GLOSSARY 307 SCIENTIFIC PAPERS 309 SCIENTIST 311 SOLUTION 330 TECHNOLOGY 331 TEMPLE OF SCIENCE 333 THEORY 335 TRUTH 342 UNDERSTANDING 351 BIBLIOGRAPHY 352 PERMISSIONS 389 SUBJECT BY AUTHOR INDEX 395 AUTHOR BY SUBJECT INDEX 453 www.IELTS4U.blogfa.com PREFACE The wisdom of the wise and the experience of ages, may be preserved by quotations. Isaac Disraeli Curiosities of Literature The importance of reading books that have become classics is not just to be able to know the level of understanding in olden times—a sort of datum for a phylogeny of knowledge. The value is also to capture the visions and the styles of the scientists who preceded us. Linda Price Thomson www.IELTS4U.blogfa.comThe Common but Less Frequent Loon and Other Essays Chapter 10 (p. 69) In 1995 I needed a book of statistical quotations. When I went to the library I found that there wasn’t such a book and so decided to compile my own. That book of statistical quotations has now grown into a series of six science quotation books. Scientifically Speaking: A Dictionary of Quotations, the sixth book of the series, is the largest compilation of published science quotations available to readers. It is a book that is designed to be entertaining but not authoritive; informative but not instructive. The purpose of the book is to present quotations so that the reader can gain an idea as to the depth and breadth of the subject of science and, also, to help the reader ‘capture the visions and the styles of the scientists’ of both the past and of the present. The bibliography is intended for those individuals who may wish to search for more details about the quotations listed. With so many well-written books of quotations on the market is another book of quotations really needed? We and our publisher agreed that there was a need since the standard dictionaries of quotations, for whatever cause, are sorely weak in providing entries devoted to quotations on science. Scientifically Speaking fills that need. The understanding of the history, the accomplishments and failures, and the meaning of science requires a knowledge of what has been said xi xii SCIENTIFICALLY SPEAKING by the authoritative and the not so authoritative philosophers, novelists, playwrights, poets, scientists and laymen about science. Because of the multidisciplinary interrelationships that exist it is virtually impossible for an individual to keep abreast of the literature outside of their own particular specialization. With this in mind, Scientifically Speaking contains the words and wisdom of several hundred individuals— scientists, writers, philosophers, poets and academicians. The book assumes a particularly important role as a guide to what has been said from the past through to the present about science. Perhaps the reader may ask, of what consequence is it whether the author’s exact language is preserved or not, provided we have his thought? The answer is, that inaccurate quotation is a sin against truth. It may appear in any particular instance to be a trifle, but perfection consists in small things, and perfection is no trifle. Robert W Shaunon The Canadian Magazine Misquotation October 1898 Scientifically Speaking was designed as an aid for the general reader who has an interest in science topics as well as for the experienced scientist. www.IELTS4U.blogfa.comThe general reader with no knowledge of science who reads Scientifically Speaking can form a pretty accurate picture of what science is. Students can use the book to increase their understanding of the complexity and richness that exists within the scientific disciplines.